Berrien rallies past Dougherty

ALBANY — For the third straight week, the Dougherty Trojans found themselves in a battle that came down to the wire.

This week’s dogfight against Berrien didn’t have the dramatic finished head coach Corey Joyner and crew would have hoped, however, as they fell to the Rebels 14-7 during Dougherty High Alunmi weekend.

Dougherty couldn’t respond to a late Berrien touchdown, and the Trojans fell to 1-2 heading into next week’s showdown with Westover.

“We didn’t execute a plan,” Dougherty head coach Corey Joyner said. “I’m very disappointed in the offense because I thought we could’ve had a big night (Friday). Very disappointed in their effort and the execution of the offense, and I’ve been disappointed for about three weeks now.”

It wasn’t until 12 seconds remained in the third quarter, when Kion’Tavious Goodson caught a short pass from Jaylen Joyner and weaved to a 44-yard touchdown, that Dougherty put points on the board and claimed a 7-6 advantage.

Berrien answered with a 16-yard touchdown and successful 2-point conversion to take a 14-7 lead, but the Trojans got a huge return on the ensuing kick and started their final drive at the Berrien 35.

Dougherty converted a fourth-and-19 play and threatened to tie the game up with less than a minute to play, but Jaylen Joyner’s pass was picked off by Tanner Adams.

Corey Joyner said the effort and progress Dougherty’s offense has shown in practice isn’t translating in game situations.

“They understand what the offense is supposed to do, but I can’t put my finger on it right now,” he said. “I’ll have to go back and watch film and see what we’ve got to work on.”

The Trojans’ defense held the Rebels scoreless in the first half and made a number of clutch stops throughout the game, including Devin Cooper’s interception to end the first half and his second pick in the fourth quarter.

Corey Joyner said they defense has kept Dougherty in games.

“They’ve been doing it all season,” he said. “They did it in the Turner game, although it was 29 points scored they held Turner for the longest. They held Mitchell down, they held these guys down.

“Offensively, we let the defense stay on the field too long. That’s something we’ve got to work on … (the defense) stayed on the field too long, and guys pretty much got tired.”